NEWSLETTER
The Cubs have won 10 of their last 12. If they continue at that pace for the rest of the season, they are very likely to make the playoffs.
• I’m used to Luis Castillo being awesome. Not only is he usually quite good, but he always seems to pitch well against the Cubs, too. So it’s a bit jarring to see that he – today’s starter against the Cubs – has the worst ERA in baseball among regulars, at 7.61. It looks like a lot of that is bad sequencing luck, but there’s also a whole lotta bad stuff in there, too (way more line drives, way fewer walks, way more homers, etc. – his previously super elite changeup is this year rating out as below average).
• On a day when all of the regular relievers appeared to be available (except maybe for Dan Winkler), it was Tommy Nance who got the 8th inning in a one-run ballgame. A very traditional setup spot. Nance, a 30-year-old reliever who has been grinding his way up over the years, starting out in indy ball, working through multiple injuries, and improving dramatically before, during, and after the pandemic. Whatever happens from here – hopefully it’s Nance being a great setup man for years to come – the story, for Nance and for the development staff, is already such an incredible one.
• Nance also needs just 4.1 more innings to join teammate Keegan Thompson in the 0.00 ERA over 10+ innings club.
• The bullpen as a whole is up to 38 straight innings without allowing an earned run, which is just bonkers. A divisional era record is on the horizon:
5 more clean innings and they'll be at the top of that list. https://t.co/i37VzTi3oR
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 28, 2021
• I anticipate it was driven by circumstance more than anything else – he’s gotten warm a couple times – but Rex Brothers has not pitched in 10(!) days. Ditto Dillon Maples. Hasn’t pitched in 10 days. Heck, Maples has pitched just once in the last 20 days (holy shit).
Re Brothers, and you can figure the same is true for Maples. That's the rub with having so many tight games lately. Cubs need to absolutely blow the pants off the Reds today. You know, for the greater good. https://t.co/EzxCnXcg08
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) May 29, 2021
• Speaking of the bullpen … lmao:
That’s weird. I thought that was tucked in my hair behind my ear… https://t.co/hg2LYMkqqz
— andrew chafin (@BigCountry1739) May 29, 2021
• Interesting quote here on Anthony Rizzo and Matt Duffy’s back injuries: “We’ll take it day-to-day with [Rizzo] and just listen to his body,” David Ross said Friday morning. “He’s an important piece and I don’t want to rush him back and have something like [Duffy’s] instance come back and miss a little bit more time.” So … Duffy came back too quickly and got legit injured? I know the IL has been loaded and the 40-man creates serious issues for the Cubs right now, but that’s a big oof, since Duffy wound up having to go on the IL anyway. I would bet a shiny nickel that, if not for the 40-man issue, Rizzo would’ve hit the IL by now. As it stands, he’s at the point where they could back-date it the full three days only if he went on the IL today. I just don’t think that’s going to happen, though, because the Cubs are not going to want to DFA anyone else right now. As we’ve discussed, the injury/40-man situation is a mess.
• My guess is the Cubs are hoping either that Rizzo is good to go very soon, or if not, one of Duffy, Jake Marisnick, or Jason Heyward will just be ready to return early next week and they can one-for-one activate that guy and put Rizzo on the IL, so there are no 40-man implications.
• Appreciate this description from Nico Hoerner about how his hamstring strain looked, which is making me unreasonably optimistic that maybe we’ll see him back in the first week of July: “I’m really optimistic about where I’m at,” Hoerner said, per Marquee. “Looking back on the play itself and having seen the video, part of what you guys saw from me was just immediate frustration of knowing that I was missing time. It wasn’t entirely pain I was reacting to. I enjoy playing a lot and knew that this was gonna leave me out for a little bit. I think that’s where you kinda saw some of the emotion from that.”
• The positional injuries are piling up at Double-A, too, with all of Andy Weber, D.J. Wilson, and Levi Jordan apparently going down recently. The group there had already been thinned a little by promotions to Triple-A (which, of course, had been thinned by the injuries on the big league team), so it’s going to require a lot more coverage. But it’s not like High-A is full of a ton of guys you immediately want to see promoted (and then bumped back when others get healthy), so I don’t know exactly what will happen. One guy who should get the bump soon, though, is Brennen Davis, who is technically rehabbing at High-A, but is slated to “begin his season” at Double-A. Maybe he’s just about ready?
• Standing mixers, curtains, charging gear, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• This is a great read on Adbert Alzolay, who threw a career-high 103 pitches yesterday, and who keeps working through phases of his development:
The Cubs keep winning and Adbert Alzolay keeps growing each time out. How good can he really be and just how long can he keep impacting this team in 2021? https://t.co/Vdl5LLihvt
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) May 29, 2021
• Gonna be tough for this to be the Cubs, because there are several games starting before Cubs-Reds:
The 13th run in today's games will be the two millionth in baseball history, per @EliasSports. #MakeItMajor
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) May 29, 2021
• This decision will be about Jared Porter, to be sure, but organizations will be implicated:
The MLB investigation into the harassment case involving ex-Met GM Jared Porter has reach the final stages, with a decision and announcement expected within a week or two.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 28, 2021
• Recall that, while Porter was fired as Mets GM because the news broke at that time, the underlying behavior (harassment and sending unwanted sexual texts) took place while Porter was an executive with the Cubs. So that is going to be part of the investigation.
• The White Sox City unis were unveiled, and I think they did a sufficiently good job that it makes me nervous for the Cubs, who come next:
https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1398287607537209345
• Bears fans are clearly extremely excited about the next QB hopeful:
Justin Fields has 3 of the top 5 selling jerseys in the NFL and you just love to see it.
You can get yours here: https://t.co/bmI2pqQjDU https://t.co/XSaXPBtIAa pic.twitter.com/LhMkRvO3rY
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) May 28, 2021
